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completed . As of today there are 1,800 unmarked graves estimated of which former Chief Justice Senator Sinclair estimates numbers could be anywhere from 6,000 to 25,000 . The heartache and pain of the survivors ’ traumatic memories stirred up is no less for the survivors of the survivors .
I thought about my mother and father who attended Spanish Indian Residential School in Spanish , Ontario . It was run by the Catholic Jesuit Order . There were two school buildings : Garnier was the boys ’ school and St . Joseph ’ s the girls ' school . My father had chosen building maintenance for his obligatory chore . He told me one day when I was a young adult how he recalled making the crosses for the boys that died there during the school year . He reflected on the insensitivity of the “ black robes ” as they callously
informed the parents of the passing of their child in that school year . My parents never shared much of what took place there until late in life when more news stories frequented the print media . My mother was in her 70s when she first began to share experiences . She and my Auntie would recall “ Bologna Legs ” as they referred to a nun who was particularly cruel to them .
These schools ran from 1870s to 1990s and some were open for over 100
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Indian Residential Schools attended by Anna-Leah ’ s parents
Spanish IRS ( Garnier and St . Joseph ' s ), Spanish , Ont ., n . d ., Residential Schools Centre , Algoma Archives 2010-081-001-001-001
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Cecil King at Garnier IRS , ca . 1953 , Father William Maurice SJ fonds , Algoma Archives 2011-44-002-009-002
Cecil King ( l ) and John Pelletier ( r ) at Garnier IRS , ca . 1953 , Father William Maurice SJ fonds , Algoma Archives 2011-44-002-004-002